Articles
Erzgebirgisch distinguishes three kinds of articles: emphatic definite article, atonal definite article, indefinite article. The emphatic definite articles are used where Standard German would use deictics like dieser and jener. The other two types closely resemble their Standard German counterparts.
All articles agree in gender, number and case with their head noun. The emphatic articles may also occur without a head noun and often replace the rarely used third person personal pronouns.
Erzgebirgisch has a negative indefinite article just like German, but the similarity to the positive indefinite article is less obvious.
The North-Western dialect has the following forms:
| Form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite article | |||
| Nominative singular | e | ne | e |
| Dative singular | n | ner | n |
| Accusative singular | n | ne | e |
| non-stressed definite article | |||
| Nominative singular | der | de | s |
| Dative singular | (de)n | der | (de)n |
| Accusative singular | (de)n | de | s |
| Nominative plural | de | ||
| Dative plural | n | ||
| Accusative plural | de | ||
| stressed definite article | |||
| Nominative singular | daar | dii | dàs |
| Dative singular | daan/dèèn | daar | daan/dèèn |
| Accusative singular | daan/dèèn | dii | dàs |
| Nominative plural | dii | ||
| Dative plural | daann/dèènn | ||
| Accusative plural | dii | ||
| negative article | |||
| Nominative singular | kee | keene | kee |
| Dative singular | keen | keener | keen |
| Accusative singular | keen | keene | kee |
| Nominative plural | keene | ||
| Dative plural | keenn | ||
| Accusative plural | keene | ||
The article n assimilates in place of articulation to the preceding consonant. It is m before p, pf, f, w and m and ng before k, g, ch ( or ) and ng.
Examples:
| (3) | S | kind | hàd | s | n | Hàns | gesààd |
| Das | Kind | hat | es/dieses | einem | Hans | gesagt. | |
| The | child | has | it/that | to a | Hans | said. | |
| (4) | Der | Hàns | hàd | dàs | buuch | ng | màà | gaam |
| Der | Hans | hat | dieses | Buch | einem | Mann | gegeben. | |
| The | Hans | has | this | book | to a | man | given. | |
| (5) | E | schiins | dleedl | hàd | dii | àà |
| Ein | schönes | Kleidchen | hat | sie/diese | an. | |
| A | beautiful | dress.DIM | has | she/this one | on. |
| (6) | Ch | hàb | m | kinern | kee | gald | gaam |
| Ich | habe | den | Kindern | kein | Geld | gegeben. | |
| I | have | the | children | no | money | given. | |
Read more about this topic: Erzgebirgisch, Morphology, Nominal Morphology
Famous quotes containing the word articles:
“It was not sufficient for the disquiet of our minds that we disputed at the end of seventeen hundred years upon the articles of our own religion, but we must likewise introduce into our quarrels those of the Chinese. This dispute, however, was not productive of any great disturbances, but it served more than any other to characterize that busy, contentious, and jarring spirit which prevails in our climates.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“How many things served us but yesterday as articles of faith, which today we deem but fables?”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“There are several natural phenomena which I shall have to have explained to me before I can keep on going as a resident member of the human race. One is the metamorphosis which hats and suits undergo exactly one week after their purchase, whereby they are changed from smart, intensely becoming articles of apparel into something children use when they want to “dress up like daddy.””
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)